American Comparative Literature Association

What American Comparative Literature Association does

The American Comparative Literature Association (ACLA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit scholarly association founded in 1960 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, operating as the principal learned society in the United States for scholars whose work involves multiple literatures, languages, and cultures. The organization serves approximately 3,000 individual academic members — including scholars, graduate students, contingent faculty, and comparative literature department leaders — through an event-driven model centered on its Annual Meeting (a multi-day program of seminars, roundtables, and roundtables hosted at rotating university campuses, with a hybrid in-person/virtual format as of 2027), a tiered membership program with income-based dues ranging from $20 to $245 per year, nine annual book and essay prizes, the Helen Tartar First Book Subvention, the quarterly ACLAN newsletter, a Job Board, Calls for Papers distribution, and the Support a Scholar travel-grant fund for contingent faculty and graduate students. ACLA also sponsors two scholarly journals — Comparative Literature (Duke University Press) and Comparative Literature Studies — and maintains affiliated relationships with ADPCL, ICLA, SCLA, NHA, and the Modern Language Association. ACLA has no proprietary technology products; its core technology stack is a self-service website platform for membership signup, conference registration, and resource distribution, supported by approximately 10 staff and an elected board of academic officers.

Name

American Comparative Literature Association

Legal name

American Comparative Literature Association

Website

https://acla.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1960

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The American Comparative Literature Association is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit scholarly society founded in 1960 that serves approximately 3,000 academic members through an annual conference, income-tiered membership dues, prize programs, and affiliated scholarly journals in the field of comparative literature.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Scholarly Association Services

NAICS

Professional Organizations (813920), Periodical Publishers (51312)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYEDAGAFAK

Scholarly Society & Association Publishing

Education/Educational Publishing & Learning Content/Academic & Scholarly Publishing (Journals, Monographs)

SECONDARYMPAGAGAD

Academic & Scientific Conferences

Media, Entertainment & Sports/Live Entertainment & Events (Concerts, Theater, Festivals)/Conventions & Conferences (Business Events)

SECONDARYMPAJABAC

Academic & Scholarly Journals Publishing (Peer-Reviewed)

Media, Entertainment & Sports/Publishing (Books, News, Magazines)/Educational & Academic Publishing (Textbooks, Scholarly, STM)

SECONDARYMPAJABAK

Scholarly Societies & Conference Proceedings Publishing

Media, Entertainment & Sports/Publishing (Books, News, Magazines)/Educational & Academic Publishing (Textbooks, Scholarly, STM)

SECONDARYEDAGAFAL

Conference Proceedings & Research Reports Publishing

Education/Educational Publishing & Learning Content/Academic & Scholarly Publishing (Journals, Monographs)

Keywords

• Scholarly association services
• Academic conference hosting
• Professional membership dues
• Humanities prize awards
• Comparative literature society

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: Annual membership fees collected from individual scholars at varying rates based on income level. Members receive access to Annual Meeting participation, online resources, professional development, discounted publications, and voting rights.
2. Conference Fees: Registration fees for the Annual Meeting, including virtual conference platform access. Conference fees are collected separately from membership dues.
3. Journal Sponsorships: ACLA sponsors two scholarly journals - Comparative Literature and Comparative Literature Studies. Members receive discounts on subscriptions (20% discount on Comparative Literature from Duke University Press).
4. Publication Support Services: The Tartar First Book Subvention provides publication support for first books by ACLA members, funded through the association's operational budget.
5. Donations: The Support a Scholar fund provides financial support for contingent faculty and graduate students. The General Operating Fund supports day-to-day operations including administrative costs of planning Annual Meetings, granting prizes, and more.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The American Comparative Literature Association is a 501(c)(3) scholarly society that serves approximately 3,000 individual academic members through an Annual Meeting (in-person plus virtual), tiered individual membership, nine annual book and essay prizes, publication support (Helen Tartar First Book Subvention), a Job Board, Calls for Papers distribution, a quarterly ACLAN newsletter, and a decadal State of the Discipline Report. The association also sponsors two peer-reviewed journals (Comparative Literature and Comparative Literature Studies) and supports ADPCL, its affiliate for Comparative Literature program administrators.

Product overview

The American Comparative Literature Association operates as a scholarly services organization offering a portfolio of member benefits and professional resources. The core offerings include the Annual Meeting (annual in-person and virtual conferences), ACLA Membership (income-based tiered membership), Prize Awards (nine annual book and essay prizes), ACLAN Newsletter (quarterly publication), Book Subvention Program (first-book publication support), Job Board (academic positions), Calls for Papers (CFP resources), State of the Discipline Report (decadal scholarly report), ADPCL (affiliated organization for program administrators), and Support a Scholar Fund (travel grants for contingent faculty and graduate students). The organization is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and sponsors two scholarly journals: Comparative Literature and Comparative Literature Studies.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ACLA Newsletter (ACLAN): The ACLAN newsletter is published quarterly, with timely items posted between issues.
• Support a Scholar

Products and services

• ACLA Annual Meeting Annual three-day conference bringing together comparative literature scholars from around the world for seminars, roundtables, and conversation, offered in both in-person (May 20-23, 2027 at University of Houston) and virtual (May 15-16, 2027) formats. The 2026 conference offered 551 seminar sessions. Open to ACLA members and registered non-members.
• ACLA Individual Membership Annual tiered individual membership program for academic scholars of comparative literature, priced on an income-based sliding scale from $20 (undergraduate student) to $245 (over $175,000 income), with intermediate tiers for graduate students ($60), contingent faculty ($80), and income brackets through $175,000. Benefits include Annual Meeting participation, online resources, professional development, 20% discount on Comparative Literature journal subscription from Duke University Press, voting rights in ACLA elections, and eligibility for prizes.
• ACLA Prize Awards Program of nine annual book and essay prizes recognizing excellence in comparative literature scholarship, including the A. Owen Aldridge Prize (best essay in Comparative Literature Studies), Charles Bernheimer Prize, Harry Levin Prize, Horst Frenz Prize, Presidential Prizes (Masters and Undergraduate), René Wellek Prize, and the Helen Tartar First Book Subvention Award. Open to eligible scholars, including ACLA members for the Book Subvention.
• Support a Scholar Fund Donation-funded financial support program providing travel grants and registration waivers for contingent faculty and graduate students who otherwise could not afford to attend the ACLA Annual Meeting. Funded through dedicated donations from members and supporters.
• State of the Discipline Report

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 3,000 scholars participate annually in ACLA activities
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• University of HoustoncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2027Host institution for the 2027 Annual Meeting (May 20-23). ACLA returns to university campus setting for first time since 2018, as part of UH's centennial celebration. Supported by College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences.
• Association of Departments and Programs of Comparative Literature (ADPCL)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerADPCL is an organization for department heads, committee chairs, graduate officers, and others leading Comparative Literature units. Affiliated with both ACLA and MLA, ADPCL holds meetings for program administrators and conference sessions on programmatic topics, conducts workshops for job-seekers, and offers administrative assistance.
• International Comparative Literature Association (ICLA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational affiliate organization. ACLA members can subscribe to ICLA for a discounted rate of $10/year.
• Society for Comparative Literature and the Arts (SCLA)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAffiliated organization in the field of comparative literature and arts.
• National Humanities Alliance (NHA)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAffiliated organization supporting humanities advocacy and education.
• Georgian Comparative Literature Association (GCLA)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAffiliated organization representing Georgian scholars in comparative literature.
• Modern Language Association (MLA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerADPCL is affiliated with both ACLA and MLA. The organizations cooperate on workshops and professional development for language and literature scholars.
• Comparative Literature (Journal)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOne of two scholarly journals sponsored by ACLA. Published by Duke University Press. ACLA members receive 20% discount on subscriptions.
• Comparative Literature Studies (Journal)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOne of two scholarly journals sponsored by ACLA. Co-presents the A. Owen Aldridge Prize with ACLA.
• College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, University of HoustoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic college providing institutional support and hosting partnership for the 2027 ACLA Annual Meeting as part of University of Houston's centennial celebration.
• Scholars at Risk NetworkminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational network that promotes and protects the human rights of scholars around the world. ACLA supports this organization through membership.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• World Literature Association: Smaller niche scholarly society in world/comparative literature with overlapping conference and journal activity; competes for similar membership overlap.
• Association for Asian Studies (AAS): U.S.-based scholarly association with comparable operating model (membership tiers, annual conference, journal sponsorship via University of Toronto Press) serving humanities scholars in area studies.
• International Comparative Literature Association (ICLA): Global learned society in comparative literature; ACLA is the U.S. national affiliate and offers discounted ICLA subscriptions to its members, making it the closest peer in mission and structure.
• Renaissance Society of America (RSA): International learned society for Renaissance studies with analogous membership-driven model, annual conference, journal (Renaissance Quarterly), and prize portfolio.
• Society for the History of Authorship, Reading and Publishing (SHARP): International scholarly society in book history and print culture with membership, annual conference, and journal (Book History) — overlapping with ACLA's comparative literary focus.

Broad incumbents

• American Historical Association (AHA): Larger U.S. learned society for historians with similar revenue mix (dues, conference, journal sponsorship, book subvention via AHA), and faces analogous humanities-funding headwinds.
• Modern Language Association (MLA): Largest U.S.-based learned society for humanities and language scholars; overlaps with ACLA in disciplinary scope and shares a co-affiliated body (ADPCL), but covers many more languages and literary traditions.
• American Anthropological Association (AAA): Major U.S. humanities-adjacent learned society with comparable dues/conference/journal structure serving a different but adjacent scholarly community.

Regional players

• European Society for the Study of English (ESSE): European counterpart learned society in literary studies with parallel biennial conference and journal structure; serves a different geography but directly comparable in mission.
• American Philosophical Association (APA): Humanities scholarly association with a federation model (Eastern/Central/Pacific divisions) that parallels ACLA's university-rotating conference structure; covers philosophy rather than literature.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/aclaorg

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles15 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about American Comparative Literature Association